More than two-thirds of all students met or exceeded expectations in this year's Foundations Skills Assessment (FSA) with overall results up or stable across all components.

The FSA is an annual assessment of student achievement in reading, writing and numeracy. It is one of many measures used to assess student achievement and complements other information gathered in classrooms.

The FSA has proven to be a useful indicator of future academic success. Students who meet expectations on their Grade 4 FSA typically have a 20 per cent higher likelihood of graduation than those who do not meet expectations. The FSA provides valuable information to help school districts and the ministry ensure appropriate strategies are in place to support struggling learners.

Percentage of all students meeting or exceeding expectations in 2013 are as follows:

• Grade 4 reading: 71 per cent (up one per cent over 2012)

• Grade 4 writing: 73 per cent (up one per cent over 2012)

• Grade 4 numeracy: 68 per cent (same as 2012)

• Grade 7 reading: 66 per cent (up two per cent over 2012)

• Grade 7 writing: 72 per cent (up one per cent over 2012)

• Grade 7 numeracy: 63 per cent (up three per cent over 2012)

With limited exceptions, all Grade 4 and Grade 7 students are expected to participate in the FSA - 85 per cent of students wrote the assessment in 2013, up slightly from 2012.

Backgrounder: https://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/downloads/2013_FSA_Backgrounder.pdf

Learn More:

Provincial, district and school FSA 2013 results are available on the Ministry of Education website at: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/reporting/

Contact:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963